


Cheating Fate (運命を浮気)

by Vaengir



Category: Naruto
Genre: Time Travel
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-12-30
Updated: 2015-01-20
Packaged: 2018-03-04 06:50:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 14,558
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2956415
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Vaengir/pseuds/Vaengir
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>To give Naruto a chance against Madara, Obito might've inadvertently erased him from existence. Until he finds a way to bring Naruto back, he'll have to deal with sharing a body with his younger self while the other remains oblivious to his existence.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Child-Spirit?

**Author's Note:**

> This story is parallel to Iryo-nin Kasa  
> http://archiveofourown.org/works/815772

                Obito had resigned his fate the moment he pushed Kakashi out of the way of the boulder that now crushed him. He didn’t have time to think about it, his body just moved to shove the silver-haired jounin out of the way. The look of shock on his face was priceless, it was almost worth getting crushed over…almost.

                Had the boulder landed on the other side, he might’ve joked about the stupid rock crushing his chest and giving him heartache, but he knew the pain was from the broken look on Rin’s face. His teammates tried desperately to push the rock off him, but he knew it was a pointless endeavor.

                “…Forget it,” whispered Obito with a weak chuckle. “Half my body’s crushed, I can’t even feel a thing.”

                It wasn’t a lie, he really couldn’t feel anything. Not the pressure, not the weight… actually, it hardly feels like he was being crushed at all.

                “No,” screamed Kakashi in frustration as he pounded the ground brokenly. “How could this… If only I…”

                “…Don’t blame yourself,” said Obito weakly. “It really sucks, but I guess that’s life. Oh yeah… I didn’t give you a present for your promotion yet.”

                “What are you talking about?” said Kakashi, his voice broken.

                “Rin… Take my sharingan… and plant it into Kakashi’s left eye,” said Obito.

                “Obito,” whispered Kakashi.

                “I’m dying and there will be more of them waiting outside for you guys when you leave,” said Obito. “There’s not much else I could do except to be your eye and help you see the future. So please…” said Obito.

                The three fell into silence before Rin eventually agreed to do the operation. He could feel the distress coming off his silver-haired teammate in waves, but kept silent as the other fought back the surge of emotions. Any other time, he might’ve teased him for such display, but with their dire situation, he didn’t heart to say a word.

                Once Rin took away his eye, his world fell into darkness. His other eye was hidden, possibly crushed by the boulder that trapped him. Kakashi left to confront Rin’s kidnappers and Obito turned to his hearing in order to track his teammate’s movements. Rin remained by his side, clutching onto his hand tightly as they waited for their teammate. As expected, Kakashi won and all seemed well. At least until the enemy made a last ditch effort to collapse their rocky base in hopes of burying all three of them with it.

                “Kakashi, take Rin and go,” ordered Obito.

                His silver-haired teammate said nothing, but he could hear him moving to leave.

                “Obito!” screamed Rin as her hand slipped from his, no doubt from Kakashi dragging her away as he ordered.

                It was a pity that things had to end this way, just when he was starting to get along with Kakashi too. Does he have regrets? Sure, he has several. He regrets not telling Rin how he felt. He regrets not being able to give much help and he regrets leaving them in such misery. However, he doesn’t regret a single thing he chose to do today. Saving a friend and comrade would never be something he would regret.

                The roar of rocks crashing into one another raged around him, no doubt burying what’s left of him under the rocky pile. He still couldn’t feel a thing, was his nerves damaged? He supposed that was a gift in itself, if he could go painlessly. Without his sight, he couldn’t tell whether or not the boulders had completely hidden away the sky or whether there was still a sliver of light coming through.

                Trapped in darkness and waiting for death. Oddly, he didn’t feel scared at all. He was ready and willing to pass on. Except…

                “It hurts…” whimpered a childlike voice.

                A child? Confusion crossed his mind, what was a kid doing here? They were in the midst of war, no one was stupid enough to go off road without ample bodyguards or a fair amount of skill, especially not with a child. It was strange. He and Kakashi did what scouting they could in the short amount of time they had and not once either of them saw a child. His mind wavered, humoring the thought that this child might not be a child… but the spirit of one that died and never moved on. It was an absurd theory…right?

                “I want to go home!” sobbed the little girl

                “Hey, don’t cry,” whispered Obito. He knew his theory of a child spirit was unlikely, but he wasn’t one to leave a child crying if they’re hurt and scared. “Are you lost?”

                “I don’t know where I am. I don’t know where dad is,” whimpered the girl, voice cracking with each word she spoke. “It’s dark, I can’t see anything! I want mom! I want dad! I want to go home!”

                “Shh… Calm down, can you do that?” hushed Obito as he continued with a soothing voice. “I know you’re scared. It could be very scary in the dark. I can’t see anything either, but you know what?”

                “W-what?” hiccupped the child.

                “It’s not as scary when you have a friend right?” asked Obito.

                “Friend?” asked the girl warily as if the question was dangerous.  

                His theory of a lost child spirit was starting to take root in his mind. If a simple offer of friendship could incite such a response, it was likely this child didn’t have many friends in life. There’s a chance that she might just become a vengeful spirit if left alone.

                “Yeah, you want to be my friend?” asked Obito.

                “…Mommy said I’m not supposed to talk to people I don’t know. Stranger-danger,” said the girl childishly.

                A chuckle escaped Obito in a wheeze. Okay, maybe his child-spirit theory wasn’t completely accurate, but at least she wasn’t crying anymore.

                “How about we get to know each other? Then we wouldn’t be strangers right? We’re not going anywhere and talking would make the pain hurt less,” suggested Obito.

                The girl quiet as if she was debating his words.

                “How about we start with an introduction?” said Obito.

                “Introduction?” inquired the girl, voice laced with quiet uncertainty.

                “You know, like where you’re from, likes and dislikes, hobbies, dreams, things like that,” answered Obito.

                She remained quiet. He couldn’t blame her. It’s not every day that you would get trapped underneath a pile of rubble with someone you don’t even know.

                “Ignoring me huh? How about I start first and you can go afterwards?” offered Obito. It really wasn’t like there was much for either of them to do. He was going to die anyway, might as well make a friend before he crossed to the other side. “I’m from Konoha, a chunin. My hobbies include making people smile and helping the elderly.”

                The girl continued to remain silent as she listened.

                “I have a girl I liked for the longest time, still do. Kind of wish I could’ve told her said,” admitted Obito quietly. “I dislike stuck up and people who betrays their friends and comrades.”

                It’s a bit odd to be admitting to all these things. If anyone got wind of him blabbering off his mouth to an unknown, he would get sent to T&I for a good tongue lashing along with some whiplashing as well… Oh well, he’s going die anyway.

                “My dream?” chuckled Obito as he thought back to the first day he met Kakashi, Rin and Minato sensei. “Well… I have one, it was kind of nice.”

                “…What was your dream?” asked the girl, finally breaking out of her shell.

                “Tsk, tsk, no cheating,” teased Obito. He wasn’t about to let her shrink back into her shell. “You have to tell me something about yourself.”

                “I’m almost four,” mumbled the girl.

                “Almost four?” said Obito, exaggerating his words since now he knew how old the child was. Young children did tend to respond better to happier tones. “Your mommy must be so proud that you’re a big girl now.”

                “My mommy’s dead,” answered the girl in a deadpan.

                “Oh…” murmured Obito quietly. There went that strategy. “What about your dad? He’s still around?”

                “I dunno… Dad was with me before we separated,” answered the girl softly.

                “Maybe he’s—” a violent cough racked through the half of his body that he could feel.

                “Are you okay?” asked the girl meekly.

                “Don’t worry about it,” rasped Obito as he caught his breath. There was no need to scare the girl any further. “Hey, you’re not scared anymore right?”

                “No…” agreed the girl. He could hear her shifting as she searched for him. “But where are you?”

                “Probably under a big rock. I wouldn’t look for me if I were you. I’m not very pretty now,” joked Obito with a weak laugh.

                “That’s okay,” said the girl. “You have a pretty voice.”

                “Pretty voice?” said Obito in amusement before he felt the world spin. “Listen, why don’t you go find your dad? You can’t help me. Half my body’s crushed.”

                “My dad’s an iryo-nin, he can fix you,” said the girl stubbornly.

                Obito fought back a groan as he forced the next words out. “Even the best can’t… put me… back…”

                “Hey!” cried out the child in alarm. “You’re not leaving me alone are you?”

                He kept quiet, fighting back another fit of coughing as he did his best to keep from scaring the girl further.

                “Some friend you are,” sniffled the girl as she hiccupped in the darkness. “Leaving me alone in the dark.”

                So, she’s afraid of the dark. That was so typical of a child.

                “Heh,” chuckled Obito weakly as he gathered chakra in his hand. He couldn’t do anything like Kakashi’s chidori, but he could at least turn himself into a temporary human nightlight for the scared little girl. To his surprise, he could see the blue glow of chakra out of his left eye. The boulder must’ve shifted when everything collapsed. “I’m not that mean.”

                “You didn’t answer when I called out,” huffed the girl, trying to sound like she was angry, but he could hear the relief in her voice.

                “Sorry,” wheezed Obito, doing his best not to smile. “It’s a bit hard to talk with a collapsed lung.

                “…Does it hurt?” asked the girl as she scooted closer.

                “Dunno, can’t feel much,” answered Obito truthfully before a thought crossed his mind and a chuckle escaped him. “You cheated.”

                “Huh?” voiced the girl in confusion.

                “You didn’t tell me a thing about yourself,” quipped the Uchiha in amusement.

                He really shouldn’t be joking like this at the edge of death, but his efforts weren’t wasted as a giggle broke from the little girl. She must’ve find the whole situation just as absurd as he did.

                “Hey, it’s not that funny.” He faked a pout, determined to keep her laughing even if just for a moment longer.

                “My name’s Kasa Mon,” said the girl as she recovered from her giggling fit. “I’m from Ame.”

                “You’re from rain… and your parents named you umbrella?” said Obito with a raised brow, her parents must have a sense of humor.

                “Like your name is any better,” huffed the girl, no doubt puffing her cheeks as she said this.

                “Of course my name is awesome! I’m Obito Uchiha, the most badass ninja of Konoha!”

                “…You’re trapped in a pile of rocks,” said the girl in a deadpan.

                “…Minor setback,” retorted Obito, slightly miffed, but he quickly lost steam as the world spun once more into darkness and the coughs returned. He didn’t need to see or hear to know that this scared her. Who wouldn’t be scared to see someone dying next to them? “Hey, give me your hand.”

                “Why?” asked the girl, her voice muffled as if she covered it trying to hide how scared she was.

                “Come on, don’t you trust me?” said Obito gently. Even if he was going to die, he’s going to do what he could while he’s still alive to make it slightly less terrifying for the girl.

                She slid her hand blindly across the ground trying to find his in the darkness. The chakra he gathered to light the cramp space had gone out when he fell into his coughing fit. He grabbed hers with no trouble and gripped it comfortingly. Her hand small and soft, without callouses of someone who was trained as raised as a shinobi. She was civilian through and through.

                “Sorry,” murmured Obito and he truly was. Shinobi was trained to witness death and accept it. Civilians on the other hand were not. He’d be surprised if this doesn’t scar her for life.

                “For what?” asked the girl, clueless to what he why he was apologizing.

                “For being a horrible friend,” said Obito as he lit the cramp space once more with chakra. “I’ll try to keep it bright for as long as I can.”

                “…You’re dying,” concluded the girl in a mumble. Maybe she wasn’t as clueless as he thought.

                “Yeah,” answered Obito tiredly in a soft voice as the light from his chakra flickered once more. His time almost up. “Sorry for leaving you alone.

                He feel the girl shaking next to him, biting back cries and whimpers of fear. Poor girl, she’s going to die not long after him…

                “Obito, open your mouth,” said the girl breathless with pain.

                “What’s the matter?” asked Obito in concern. “Are you okay?”

                “I’m going to fix you,” wheezed the girl in determination.

                “How? Don’t be stupid. I told you even the best iryo-nin can’t—” He never got to finish as she shoved her arm into his mouth and out of instinct, he clamped down.

                The familiar feeling of healing chakra flowed through him as feeling finally returned to the crushed half of his body. The flow was brief and didn’t completely heal him, but he didn’t feel like he was going die at least. Before he could make sense of anything, he blacked out.

                Unbeknownst to him, the moment he was unconscious another took over.

* * *

                Having taken over young Obito’s body, the time-traveling Uchiha spent the last of his chakra to drag both Obito and the child Kasa out of the rubble through Kamui. While the control was brief, it seemed like his host was oblivious to the times he takes over. Unable to control the duration of the take-over, the time traveler fell into the back of the younger teen’s consciousness once Obito resumed control. Though he couldn’t see, he could hear his younger counterpart clearly as he murmured to himself with a weak chuckle.

                “How did I…? Maybe I unconsciously dug us out with an earth release jutsu? But there’s no hole… Huh?” confusion laced the younger Uchiha’s voice before he gave a nonchalant shrug. “Ah, I’ll figure it out later, no need to stress about it.”

                If the time traveler could snort, he would do so at how the teen went about tending his and the girl’s injuries before setting up camp. He knew the risk of starting a fire when he was alone in enemy territory, but continued anyway, just so that he could boil hot water in his metal canister and treat the girl’s bite wound. A  _bite_  wound. He doubt there was anything in the teen’s mouth that could give the girl an infection. It was likely just an excuse to give the child some warmth during the night. Be it kindness or the carefree naivety of his younger—no, not his younger self.

                They’re not the same, not anymore. This one won’t be a puppet of Madara, he won’t let it happen, but at the same time, he couldn’t in good conscience call himself Obito either. He doesn’t have the right. Not after all he’s done. He was bitter, jaded, doing whatever that was necessary to lead the world to a future he desired. Actually, he might still be. Coming all the way back here into this time, wasn’t he just doing same thing all over again? Even if it’s under the guise of another reason, this was no different from when he was Tobi…

                Tobi… wry amusement crossed his thoughts as the name brought back an odd sense of nostalgia. Despite how the name was meant to be a joke in his previous life, it felt fitting to be used once more here. The name he decided as a joke would be reborn here and used to fix the mistakes of his past… Now, if only he had a way to gain a body of his own. It was a hassle to share one that he couldn’t take over at will.

* * *

                Obito kept guard as his little savior slept. The auburn-haired girl was unconscious to the world. Judging by what little light they had from the fire, she resembled a little to Minato sensei’s girlfriend, Kushina, but that was just a coincidence right? The seals on her arms suggests otherwise though. Maybe if brought her back to Konoha, Kushina could verify his theory.  

                Glancing up to the sky, he let out a sigh. It was still too dark to move safely. Not with all the injuries he had and an unconscious civilian child as well. This was likely the worst case scenario he ever faced. Separated from his team, injured to the point of near death—though he has to question how a civilian child with no shinobi training whatsoever manage what she did. He was certain that he was a goner. No one recovers from having half their body crushed under a pile of rubble.

                A kekkai genkai maybe? A healing one was unheard of as most families with one usually tried to hone it for attack or defense. Taking another look at the girl, he gave a careless shrug as he gathered her close to keep both of them warm and rested his eyes.  He was no use to either of them if he was completely worn out when morning comes. He could only hope that no one attacks while they’re asleep.

                Unknown to him, his stowaway time traveler remained awake and alert, guarding them while they slept. Even without sight, he managed with his hearing and what little chakra sensory skills he had. The night was fairly quiet sans the soft rustling of leaves against the wind and the barely audible calling between insects. It was odd to be able to feel what his host could feel. The coldness of the air, the fluctuating heat from the flames and the warmth of the small child in his arms.

                The appearance of this girl nagged him to no end, her appearance was too sudden and convenient. Just when his host needed a healer, this girl just shows up out of the blue. While Obito accepted her without a second thought, Tobi did not share that same hopeful naivety. It wasn’t normal.  _She_  wasn’t normal. Last time, she wasn’t there. He never saw her in his previous life. So what changed here? His presence?

                Not likely since he had no chance to do anything significant to bring forth this child. The only thing he’s done so far was prolong Obito’s life by mere… minutes… Realization seeped into Tobi as he cycled through his thoughts in quick succession.

                This Obito lasted minutes longer than he did. She was here the last time, but he missed her because he couldn’t hang on. Madara likely only told Zetsu to retrieve only him and since she had no one to get her out, she never had a chance to live. In theory, this explanation would cover nearly everything neatly… but that still left the biggest question lingering.

                Where the hell did she come from? The memories of this day was burned into his mind, there was no way he would forget the detail of a civilian child. So what was she? A child-spirit like Obito claimed or a powerful entity born from the Uzumaki Clan?

                Her breathing remained slow and steady as she leaned in and curled up closer to Obito’s body for warmth. If he thought about it, she very well could be a powerful entity. The Uzumaki clan had a tendency to produce powerful children. Despite having their home village destroyed and their clan scattered into the four corners of the world, they still managed to birth impressive powerhouses like Naruto and Nagato along with valuable support-focused individuals like Karin.

                If her healing ability was anything to go by, with some training, she might become a valuable support in the future… but that’s thinking too far ahead. From the glimpse he got of her earlier, she couldn’t be more than four years old. More importantly, they have to find a way back to Konoha without dying. If Obito dies here, Madara would just take him again and turn him against everyone again. That was something he couldn’t let happen. Until he could find a way to take over or obtain a body of his own, he could only wait and see.

* * *

                To their good fortune, they remained undisturbed by attackers for the night. Obito woke up at the crack of dawn, body stiff, aching from both injuries and an awkward sleeping position. Seeing they were still in one piece, he did what he could to put out the remains of the fire and covered any tracks that might’ve hinted that they stayed the night. With the morning light, he finally a better glimpse of his little savior.

                The night prior, he made note that Kasa had a strong resemblance to Kushina, but now with better lighting, he noticed her hair was darker shade. The possibility of them being related could still be fairly high. As he buried the dying embers of their campfire, the girl roused.

                “Looks like the sleeping princess is awake,” teased Obito as she rubbed her eyes. “How are you feeling?”

                “…You’re still here,” said the girl in surprise. Did she expect him to abandon her?

                “Did I give you  _that_  bad of an impression? Why would you think I’d leave you? You’re stuck with me until we find your dad,” said Obito.

                “…But I don’t even know where he is,” murmured the girl.

                “Hmm,” hummed Obito thoughtfully. She did have a point, he couldn’t very well trollop through the fire country looking for her father without a lead, especially not in his current condition. Not to mention, he wanted to let his team know that he was still alive. Such a predicament… “Then you’ll just have to come back with me to Konoha!”

                Surprise crossed the girl’s face again. She must not have much interaction with people if she’s so easily startled by the simplest of offers.

                “You can stay with me and wait for your dad to show up. I’m sure we’ll find a way to contact him eventually,” said Obito as he held his arms behind his head. “What do you say?”

                The girl took a moment, but eventually nodded with a quiet. “Sure.”

                “Great!” He couldn’t help but ruffle up her hair, she was like a little kitten. “Konoha’s a great place, you’ll love it there!”

                She moved to get up, but she must’ve not been very coordinated as she slipped and fell flat on her face. Not even a moment later, her stomach growled signaling her hunger. Obito found himself unable to hold back as he cracked up laughing. She really was like a kitten.

                “Shut up!” grumbled the girl as she pushed herself to her knees and rubbed her nose tenderly.

                “Sorry, sorry!” said Obito, genuine in his apology, as he rummaged through his pouch. “I have some ration bars, they’re not tasty, but that’ll have to hold you over until we reach a Konoha outpost or a village.”

                “You’re still laughing,” glared the girl as she took the offered bars.

                “You have something on your nose,” sniggered Obito before she scowled even more. Little did he know, this was only the first of many banters they would share.


	2. Uzumaki

                Much to Obito’s surprise, the civilian girl Kasa traveled alongside him without a single complaint. Being a civilian and child, exhaustion should have quickly overtaken the girl and drove her to a whining fit or crying. He expected as much, but never once did the girl complain. Not even when he handed her the less than appetizing ration bars. The girl ate it without a word, not even grimacing once at the bland taste.

                Unlike him, she had no prior training and even less stamina for such a long distances. Wait, didn’t she mention something about having an iryo-nin father? Did she receive training from him? That healing technique she used didn’t look like anything in Konoha’s medic arsenal. Maybe a kekkai genkai then? That might explain her family’s situation.

                “So… what was that thing you did back there to heal me?” started Obito as they continued their painfully slow trek towards the Konoha outpost. “A jutsu? A kekkai genkai?”

                “I dunno,” replied the girl with an oblivious expression. “What’s a kekkai genkai?

                Did she really not know? Her expression didn’t look like an act, but he could be wrong. Child prodigies appeared often enough. Konoha’s countless number of prodigies indicated as much. Though… could a child her age really pull off such an act? Looking down at Kasa, he noticed the girl blinking sleepily. She must be exhausted after all.

                “Ah… never mind,” said Obito as he waved it off as he continued to limp along at their snail’s pace.

                At full health, he could clear the distance within minutes, but now, he moved even slower than a civilian child. If Kakashi saw him now, no doubt his silver-haired teammate laugh at his sorry state. By the seventh mile, his lungs burned as he heaved with each breath.

                “Do you want to bite me again?” asked Kasa quietly as she stared up at him with worry.

                Obito bit back a grimace, he must look horrible if a civilian child worried. How pathetic.

                “No,” he declined firmly and gave a weak laugh and teased. “You could barely keep up yourself. If I bite you again, I might just have to carry you for the rest of the way. Do you want a piggyback ride that much?”

                The girl puffed up her cheeks in indignation, no doubt annoyed by his teasing.

                “We’ll take a break before we move on. Thirsty?” He offered his water bottle in an attempt to settle her agitation, but paused when he heard a distortion in the air. Someone was here.

                “Look it here, a Konoha-nin all alone with a little brat,” drawled a smug voice.

                Shit. Obito glanced towards the speaker with his single eye and spotted an Iwa-nin.

                “You think you can take me on?” said Obito with forced confidence, attempting to bluff through with his claim. “I’m Obito Uchiha! I could take you on any day with my arms tied behind my back!”

                The Iwa-nin bellowed in laughter, obviously not believing a word he said. If anything, he seemed more amused.

                “An Uchiha huh?” drawled the man. “That means you have the sharingan right?” 

                Obito fought back a grimace. Not only did he screw up the bluff, he also revealed the hidden ace in his sleeve. They were so screwed…

                “Well, Mr. Big-Shot. Looks like you lost one of your eyes. I’ll be nice and even that out for you!” snorted the enemy shinobi as he launched shurikens at them.

                Cursing under his breath, Obito slipped his good arm around the smaller girl’s waist and hauled them out of harm’s way.He gritted his teeth through the pain with each dodge he made. With his stick, he deflected what he could, but his mangled arm was slow to respond. Amongst the barrage, a stray shuriken slipped pass his defense and grazed his arm, forcing him to drop his crutch.

                At the opening, the Iwa-nin closed in from above and delivered a dropkick. The best Obito could do was to hold the smaller girl protectively as they hit the ground.

                “Y-you okay?” grunted Obito as he forced his only eye to open through the pain.

                “Obito!” shouted the girl as she scrambled off him and tugged at his arm. “Get up!”

                “Kasa.” He hissed as he pried her hand from his arm. “You have to run.”

                “No!” She shook her head stubbornly as she pressed her hand against his lips. “You can bite me again! If you’re healed, you can fight right?”

                “Kasa!” warned Obito angrily as he pushed her hand away “Run! You’ll die if you stay.”

                “No!” She snapped back stubbornly.

                “Isn’t this sweet, you’re squabbling in your last breath,” laughed the Iwa-nin in his gruff voice.

                Obito felt the girl’s body tense and shake as she turned her gaze towards their enemy.

                “Help,” squeaked the girl desperately, though her words weren’t directed to anyone specific.

                “No one’s around kid. Shout all you want,” said the Iwa-nin as he approached.

                “Tch,” hissed Obito as he pulled Kasa to his chest in a protective hold. The sharingan flared up before the Iwa-nin paused, with his mangled arm, he reached back and pulled out a kunai. “Let her go or I’ll destroy this eye. If you want it, she goes free. No tricks.”

                “Really?” drawled the Iwa-nin in bemusement. “No tricks?”

                “None. Just let her go,” bargained the Uchiha.

                “Hmm…” hummed the enemy ninja as he pretended to think. “No. I don’t think I will.”

                Obito gritted his teeth as he readied to shove the kunai into his eye. He couldn’t let it fall into enemy hands. However, before he managed to do so, the kunai was knocked out of his hand and an unfamiliar figure stood protective over him and Kasa.

                “Ninja Art: Poison Mist!” shouted the stranger as a billow of purple cloud shot towards the Iwa-nin.

                Obito caught a brief glimpse of blue hair before he and Kasa was swept off the ground and dashed away from the rolling cloud of poison. As they left, he could hear the Iwa-nin gagging and choking on the poisonous mist. It wasn’t until the enemy dropped dead to the ground that he allowed himself to sigh in relief. He wrapped his arms reassuringly over the shaking girl as she clung to him like a lifeline, whimpering and fighting off the desperate urge to bawl hysterically.

                “It’s okay Kasa, I got you,” said the stranger reassuringly. Obito glanced up and spotted the Ame hitai-ate on the man’s head.

                “D-dad?” hiccupped the girl, tears welded up in her eyes.

                “It’s okay honey, I got you,” said the man reassuringly as he adjusted his grip on the two of them.

                Obito found the girl burying her face into his chest and bawling earnestly as she drenched his shirt. With a tired grin, he pressed a hand against the back of her head and allowed her to cry to her heart’s content.

                “…There will be more,” whispered Obito once they’ve found a hollow tree and the man laid him flat on the ground.

                “I know,” replied the blue-haired man as he tended to his wounds.

                “Chances are, we won’t get far if we traveled together,” continued Obito tiredly as he glanced up to the darkness of the hollow tree they hid in. The man’s iryo-ninjutsu felt considerably different compared to Rin’s healing touch. While hers often energized him, this man’s chakra lulled him to near sleep… or was he inducing him to sleep? Everything felt… so… heavy…

* * *

                The moment Obito lost consciousness, Tobi took over. Every part of his body ached, but compared to Obito, his mind was fresh. His thoughts were clear and unclouded by physical exhaustion. He had a theory that it might be dependent on how long each of them are in the foreground. The body might be exhausted, but as long as one of them was not in control, their mind remained at rest.

                As he had no eyes or body of his own while in the background, the only stimulation he received were all auditory.

                “Kasa, keep quiet and out of sight,” ordered the man. “I’ll draw their attention away.”

                Tobi could hear the smaller girl move to protest, but the slight breeze from the man’s movement told him he interrupted any arguments she might have had. 

                “None of that right now. I’ll come back for you, but until then. Stay alive,” said the man before the rustling of clothes indicated his movement again. “Don’t lose this. This will keep you safe.”

                Tobi cracked his eye open briefly to see him tie a string of charms around the girl’s neck, but due to the exhaustion of his body, he couldn’t keep it open for long.

                “Boy, can you hear me?” asked the man and Tobi returned with a slight nod. “I saw what you did back there for Kasa. Thank you. Please keep her safe for a while longer.”

                “Heh,” a soft amused chuckle escaped Tobi, finding it hilarious that the man trusted so easily. Even so, he adjusted his speech to mimic the younger Uchiha.  “No prob, but I’m not in the best condition to do anything.”

                “If worst comes to worst, Kasa will know what to do,” continued the man.

                She knows what to do? Tobi did his best to keep the confused frown from reaching his face. What did he mean by that? The blue-haired man traded some last words with his daughter before he left. The faint shuffle of shrubbery indicated the man did what he could to hide them and then he was gone.

                “Don’t worry,” whispered Tobi when he heard a slight sniffle. “Your dad will be fine.”

                The girl said nothing, but he could hear her shift as if pulling her legs closer to her body. They stayed in silence in what seemed like hours before the sound of rain splatter sung outside of their hiding place. By now he expected the girl to break out in tears again, but instead she coped rather well… unless she was the type to break down at a later and more inconvenient time… Best try to dampen the breakdown while he still could.

                “I think they’re gone,” said Tobi in an attempt to draw her into a conversation.

                “Can you move?” She asked quietly. “Dad healed you didn’t he?”

                “Not at the moment,” grunted Tobi as he tested his body. The mind may be willing, but the body was not. “While iryo-ninjitsu is amazing in healing injuries, there’s a drawback that it eats a lot of chakra from both the medic and patient. I can’t do much until my chakra stores recover. Might take a while.”

                “So do we just wait?” she asked meekly.

                “Yeah, and hope the rain keeps them from finding us,” replied Tobi. He couldn’t fight in this state even if he wanted to.

                She grew quiet again and he found himself at loss at what to say. What could he say? What would his younger self do in this situation?

                “Hey, Kasa?” he called out to the girl as he held out his hand.

                “Hmm?” hummed the girl inquisitively.

                “Give me your hand,” said Tobi.

                No further words traded between them as she slipped her tiny hand into his. Eventually, the rain lulled her to sleep and he remained on guard over her and the younger Obito. He might have escaped Madara’s clutches for the moment, but who knows if the old bastard would try to snatch him away the moment he let his guard down. Until they returned to Konoha, he would keep a close eye on them while they slept.

* * *

                “Come on Kasa!” chirped Obito cheerily the next morning as he pulled her out of the hollow tree they hid in the night before.

                Oddly, he slept through the night without waking even once. That should’ve been a cause for concern, but considering Kasa’s father didn’t steal his eye while he slept, he couldn’t complain. He did feel a great deal better compared to the day before, even if he was still covered in black and blue. The man even made sure his legs were close to full function so that their travel would be easier.

                “There should be a Konoha outpost near here. If we can get there, we should be fine,” noted Obito he raced through the trees.

                It took a moment at first to adjust to the change in depth perception with only one eye, but he surprised himself at how quickly adapted. Almost as if… he had experience in using only one eye before… How odd…

                “What do you want to do first when we get back to Konoha?” asked Obito offhandedly, not wanting to linger on such confusing thoughts.

                “Hmm?” the girl glanced up at him in confusion.

                “Since your dad left you under my care, you’re coming back to Konoha with me. So, what do you want to do first when we get back?” asked Obito.

                “I don’t know.” She shrugged. He bit back a grimace as her elbow rubbed against one of the many bruises. “What do you want to do?”

                “Hmm… good question. What should I do when I get back?” pondered Obito as he did his best to distract himself from the dull bruising pain. His thoughts wandered for a moment before it landed on Rin and Kakashi. “I should probably find my team and tell them I’m alive.”

                Kasa gave him another curious glance.

                A grin crossed his face as he jumped pass a tangle of branches and headed upwards for another tree. “Can you image their faces when they find out? Oh! Or maybe I should prank them and pretend to be a ghost or something.” 

                “That’s mean,” said the girl as she gnawed at her lower lip.  

                “But funny,” quipped Obito with a wink. Probably not his brightest decision considering he had only one eye and traveled via treetops. “Whoa!”

                He tripped, tightening his grip on the small girl as he resist the urge to flail. Using chakra to stick his feet to the tree, he managed an awkward wiggle to catch his balance. He felt the girl shift in his arms as she did her best not to laugh… She has an odd sense of humor…Well, better than her crying, he supposed.

                “Whew! That was a close one!” He grinned sheepishly, trying to draw out more laughter from the girl and his efforts didn’t go wasted as she broke out in laughter. “Now that’s much better. We’re almost there, no more frowns okay?”

                True to his words, they reached one of the Konoha outposts within the hour. Unfortunately, things didn’t go as smoothly as he had hoped.

                “Identify yourself,” ordered the outpost guards defensively with their kunais in sight.

                 “Obito Uchiha, chunin, I was separated from my team several days ago after an ambush in the forest, 40 kilometers northwest. I have a civilian with me.” He shifted his hitai-ate into clear view before he set the girl down.

                “Uchiha?” The two guards raised a brow. “Do you have identification codes?”

                “Code?” Obito blanched at the question before frustration crossed him. “Ah crap! Minato sensei and that bastard Kakashi usually dealt with those!”

                The guards stood cautious, raising their kunais at the ready. He found himself tensing for an attack before a small hand tugged at the side of his pant-leg.

                “Obito?” asked Kasa in worry.

                “Uh… Uh…” Obito grasped his chin as he rambled under his breath trying to remember the codes. Verse after verse, until he snapped his fingers in realization. “I’m an idiot! Duh! I’m an Uchiha, can’t believe I could finally use this stupid code. The crimson moon sets upon a sea of blood.”

                His sharingan flared to life as additional proof to show he was a Konoha shinobi. However, the guards didn’t see to buy his words.

                “…You don’t act like an Uchiha,” commented one of the guards.

                “You’ve got to be kidding me!” snapped the one-eyed Uchiha. “Of all the—I finally get my sharingan as proof to use that stupid code and you say I don’t act like an Uchiha? What kind of bull shit is this?”

                “Do you have another code?” asked the guards.

                “This is harassment!” griped Obito.

                The guards shifted into an offensive stance.

                “Okay, okay!” Obito held up his free hand in defense as he wracked his brains for an answer. “Uh… uh…?”

                “How about you tell me why you’re late again instead? Obito-kun?” asked a familiar voice.

                “Kushina-san!” said the Uchiha in relief as he turned to the source, but when he did, he nearly regretted his actions.

                “You didn’t answer my question Obito-kun,” chirped the woman in false cheer. “You were so late that Minato told me that your team now knows you as the _late_ Obito Uchiha.”

                Obito scratched the back of his head sheepishly. There was no getting out of explaining this to his sensei’s girlfriend. If he lied, she would not only skin him, but she would use his corpse as a fish bait and go fishing with her chakra chains.

                “Sorry, sorry! I kind of got lost near the end of the road of life, but then I came across this cute little girl here and she helped me find my way back. She got separated from her parents you know. I couldn’t very well just let her wander alone without a friend right?”

                Multiple stares of disbelief rested on him at his outrageous claim before an amused huff escaped Kushina and genuine smile replaced the previous fake one.

                “He’s cleared,” said the redheaded kunoichi as she relaxed her stance and waved off the guards.

                The guards glanced between her and Obito before they stood down their guard. “Next time remember your codes,” suggested the guard in mild annoyance.

                “Will do!” agreed Obito as he grabbed Kasa and dragged her along to follow Kushina. He would thank the stars that he managed to go through without further problems, but his luck stated otherwise.

                Ten minutes after they entered the outpost, Kushina paused and her hair flared into a demon wisps.

                “Obito-kun,” purred the woman dangerously.

                “K-Kushina-san?” his voice quivered at the woman’s fury.

                “Don’t get lost at the end of the road again,” said the woman, her smile remaining the same as her words grew more and more threatening. “Because next time, I’ll personally go there. Drag you back in the most gruesome manner possible and eviscerate you piece by piece with my bare hands until you wished you never took a step towards that part of the road… Do I make myself clear?”

                A horrified squeak escape Obito as he nodded rapidly. If he learned anything from Minato sensei, it was to never piss off the man’s girlfriend. She could make a gruesome death look gentle.

                “Good, I’m glad we’re clear,” said the woman with a deceptively sweet smile. Her demonic hair settled back down and she patted Obito’s trembling form with a fondness that was commonly used for young children and pets.

                “You are so… cool...” an awed whisper came from the small girl and Obito had to turn to her in disbelief. “How does your hair do that? Can you teach me? It’s so pretty!”

                The enthusiasm the girl had was surreal, but Kushina laughed at the compliment and patted her head fondly.

                “Who is this, Obito?” asked Kushina curiously as they made their way to the living quarters and she served them hot drinks and food.

                “This is Kasa,” introduced Obito. “My little life savior.”

                “…Life savior?” asked Kushina with a raised brow.

                “Yep, if it not for her, I’d be dead.” He replied.

                “Explain,” frowned Kushina, confused by his words.

                “Uh… what do you know about what happened?” asked Obito as he rubbed the back of his head awkwardly. While there was nothing to hide about the girl, he never really thought about how to explain what happened. Where would he begin anyway?

                “Not much. KIA was as much as I got from Minato when I saw him yesterday,” answered Kushina.

                “They were here?” asked Obito in surprise. His team was already done?

                “They were coming back from finishing the mission. They looked terrible, especially Kakashi,” murmured Kushina quietly.

                “Oh.” Guilt stabbed at his chest. No doubt they were hurting.

                “What happened?” asked Kushina again and glanced the small auburn-haired girl. No doubt cautious at having an unknown at the post even if she was a civilian child.

                He recounted what happened the best he could, but even then he couldn’t cushion the impact of what happened.

                “They… didn’t abandon you did they?” Kushina sounded almost angry.

                “What?” said Obito in indignation. “No! I told them to leave me. I made them! If I hadn’t they would’ve been buried along with me! They could’ve died!”

                “You could’ve died!” snapped Kushina. “What were you thinking?”

                “I wanted to protect them! What else could I do?” argued Obito. “To me, they’re the most important people in my life along with you and Minato sensei!”

                Kushina fell silent for a moment digesting his words before she sighed and decided to change the topic. “So where does Kasa here come in?”

                “I’m… not all too sure,” said Obito as he recounted what he could remember, but even then inconsistences showed up like how he met the auburn-haired girl. “How did you end up there anyway, Kasa?”

                 “I…don’t know,” said the girl evasively as she shrank back at his words.

                “Where are you from Kasa?” asked Kushina as she started to gather what information she could.

                It didn’t look like the girl would be willing to answer, so Obito answered for her instead. “She’s from Ame and her dad’s an iryo-nin.”

                The girl tensed, possibly worried for her father?

                “You said she healed you… Did she use iryo-ninjitsu?” asked Kushina, her brows knitted together as she tried to make sense of the story. “She’s a bit young…”

                “No, that’s the odd thing,” waved Obito as he disputed her claim. “It’s nothing like the iryo-ninjitsu Rin uses or anything. She didn’t use any jutsus. All she did was shove her hand in my mouth and made me bite her.”

                “You… bit her?” said the woman in disbelief.

                “She shoved her hand in my mouth!” protested Obito. “I didn’t do it on purpose!”

                “I’m not berating you,” interrupted Kushina before she turned to Kasa. “Are you sure that’s what she had you do?”

                “Yes, I bit her!” admitted Obito in annoyance. “But it was strange. The instant I bit her, it was as if a wave of iryo-ninjitsu flooded my body and fixed the half that was crushed... well, not completely, I was far from healed, but enough for me to somehow get the both of us out of there.”

                He watched as the woman’s brows furrowed and her eyes darted about in thought. What exactly was going through her mind? Was Kasa… really a threat somehow?

                “Kasa, do you still have the bite mark from Obito?” asked Kushina once she came out of her thoughts.

                “Kushina-san!” whined Obito in fake exasperation in case the girl was a threat. “You’re not going to report me are you? It wasn’t even in my control.”

                “Obito, shut up for a moment,” snapped Kushina before turning to the girl once more. “Kasa-chan, do you still have the bite mark?”

                “I don’t know,” answered the girl as she hesitantly raised her arm. “Obito wrapped it up.”

                “May I see?” asked Kushina and the girl shyly held out her arm for inspection.

                Obito watched as the red-haired kunoichi brushed a hand over her eye and a seal spider across her skin. She carefully unraveled the bandages on the girl’s arm, but when she saw the dark seals, she hastily unraveled the rest.

                “These… These are Uzumaki seals! Where did you get these?” demanded Kushina as she gripped onto the girl’s arm tightly. The girl let out a cry, not expecting the harsh hand. “Tell me where!”

                “Kushina-san, you’re hurting her,” interrupted Obito as he grabbed onto her arm, unable to standby as the familiar sight of fear crossed the girl’s face again.

                He could see the woman’s hand tightening even further to the point the girl cried out her answer to make the pain stop. “Mom placed them on me!”

                “Your mother?” asked Kushina in surprise, her grip loosening and the girl quickly pulled away, rubbing at her sore arm. “What’s her name?”

                “Kushina-san!” snapped Obito as he moved between her and Kasa. “You’re scaring her!”

                “What is her name?” demanded the woman once more, but the girl remained silent, staring at her with wide eyes.

                Obito moved in front of Kasa distancing her even further from the table, it wasn’t like Kushina to just lash out so readily without reason and at a civilian child. Just what’s… he paused at the sad gaze in the older woman’s eyes. She wasn’t angry… she looked… sad. Why did she look sad?  

                “Kasa, can you tell me what’s your mother’s name?” asked Kushina again, but this time her voice softer and less threatening. “Please?”

                The girl remained quiet for a moment before she ducked her head down and quietly answered. “…Mom’s name is Somoku. Somoku Uzumaki.”

                Uzumaki? Obito turned to face the girl in surprise. She was related to Kushina? His eyes darted to her hair and her face. The shading was a bit off compared to Kushina’s bright red hair, but it might be due to her father’s coloring considering the man had a near sky-blue hue. Face structure and complexion-wise she did resemble Kushina somewhat, but… wasn’t Kushina original from Uzushiogakure? And wasn’t that village…Obito grew silent in realization.

                “Obito said your mother was…” She trailed off, unwilling to finish the grim words. “Were there any other Uzumakis? Grandparents, aunts or uncles?”  

                “I don’t know, it was always just mom and dad before…” the girl trailed off as her own words finally sank in. “I’m… alone…”

                When Kushina walked around the table to envelope the girl into a hug, he didn’t move to stop her. Kasa sat dumbfounded in her seat, completely at a lost at what to do. He could see her hands raise with uncertainty as she debated whether or not to accept the hug. In the end, she leaned into Kushina’s hold and her small hands grasped onto the back of the older Uzumaki’s shirt.

_It was nice to have family that cared._ Obito thought idly, slightly envious of their closeness.


	3. Good to be Home

When Obito decided to take an odd, lost little girl back to Konoha with him, he had no clue what to expect. In the span of a week, the girl surprised him by her tenacity, descent and odd quirks. What does he mean by odd quirks? Well, the girl has skewed sense of what’s considered dangerous and what’s cute.

“Are you not terrified?” asked Kuromaru, the terrifying nin-ken of Tsume Inuzuka. From size alone, most people would flinch away, but with this girl…

“I didn’t know you can talk,” chirped the auburn-haired little girl, not the least bit bothered by the monstrous size of the dog next to her.

“You do not find it strange that I can?” drawled Kuromaru in bemusement.

“Should I?” asked Kasa with a tilt of her head to look up at the towering dog sitting next to her.

That was the sight he returned to after gathering kindle for the campfire. He and the other kunoichi had gone off with their own tasks. Tsume with patrolling the vicinity, while Kushina etched protective seals around their campsite. Kuromaru was left guarding Kasa if any intruders were to come by before they were finished.

As Obito watched, he thought himself in her position. If he was next to a beast that’s at least double his size, if not more, he wouldn’t be casually chatting with it. He would worried more that the dog might bite his head off. He never did have any interest in animals. The scratches from the cats he saved were bad enough and dogs were more of his bastard teammate Kakashi’s thing.

An uproarious laugh from Kuromaru, brought his attention back to the foreground once more as he spotted the younger girl with her cheeks puffed up and flushed red in embarrassment.

“What’s so funny?” asked Obito curiously, but that only drove the nin-ken further into laughter.

“He’s making fun of me,” pouted the girl childishly.

“Kuromaru?” questioned Tsume when she returned, catching the end of the scene with curiosity. It wasn’t everyday her nin-ken would be in such a fit.  

It took a moment, but Kuromaru managed to collect himself and gave a wolf-like grin.

“This is an interesting child. I suggest you keep an eye on her in the future,” said the canine in amusement as he stood on all fours and made his way back to the Inuzuka kunoichi. 

Obito raised a brow at this. That was a fairly high praise for a child that’s practically a civilian at this point.

“Hm?” Tsume glanced between Kuromaru and Kasa curiously. The girl curled up, hiding her face behind her legs in embarrassment. A raspy chuckle escaped from the woman as she rested a hand on her hip. “You like dogs don’t you?”

Though Obito couldn’t see her face, he could see Kasa’s ears flushed with a redness you would only associate with embarrassment.

“You’re so cute Kasa-chan,” teased Kushina with a light-hearted laugh.

“It’s not funny,” sulked the girl as she peeked up from her knees.

Obito took pity on her and dropped his load of kindle before draping an arm over her shoulders.

 “You know, that bastard Kakashi has quite a few ninkens, maybe you can meet them when we get back to Konoha,” suggested the Uchiha with a toothy grin. “That sounds fun right?”

The pout didn’t linger long before a bright grin crossed her face and she nodded happily at the notion of meeting more dogs in the future. Spirits lifted, the girl resumed chattering to Kuromaru while the intimidating dog looked over her with clear amusement and fondness on his canine face. Obito doubted there were many people that could get away with using him as a stuff animal while they slept.

“Kushina-san, does fondness for dangerous creatures run in your clan by any chance?” asked Obito during the night-watch as he studied the peaceful slumbering face of the little girl.

“Not in particular, but I could see why you would think that,” said Kushina with a giggle as she ran a hand through the girl’s soft locks. “She does have the Uzumaki spitfire.”

“I guess…” said Obito as he poked at the burning embers.

* * *

“Obito Uchiha? You’re alive!” The shout of disbelief from Ebisu greeted them when they reached the gates of Konoha later that week, He almost forgot that the uptight chunin had gate duty with Genma before he and his team left for missions.

 “Yo Ebisu, Genma!” replied Obito cheerily as if he just seen him the day before. “How’s it going?”

“How is it going?” said Ebisu indignantly as he stood over his sign-in desk. “Your team came back saying you were KIA and you waltz in here days later asking how’s it going? How are you alive?”

News traveled quickly, Obito noted idly in his mind even though he was only days behind his team in getting back. Then again, they were required to report on the field deaths to prevent imposters from using the face of their fallen comrades to infiltrate the village.

“Because I’m awesome! Not even death can take me!” Obito puffed up his chest boastfully with a grin.

 “More like even death doesn’t want deal with you,” sighed Genma dully, twitching the toothpick in his mouth as he turned to greet the two amused kunoichi. “Uzumaki-san, Inuzuka-san. It must’ve been a hassle dragging his sorry ass back here.”

“Hey!” retorted Obito, miffed by his tone of disregard, but he knew full well that Genma was just confirming with the two to make sure he was the real deal and not just an imposter they’re playing along with to get him to the interrogations department.

Kushina pinched her fingers together with a giggle. “Maybe a little.”

“No fair, you guys are ganging up on me,” complained Obito as he played along. While Kushina confirmed his identity, there was still the matter of the little girl we brought back with them.

At the sound of a suppressed giggle, he spotted the little girl doing her best not to laugh. Obito let the indignation fade in his demeanor as he turned to the younger girl. She had no clue the amount of scrutiny she was under, but he supposed that ignorance was a bliss in her situation.  

“But at least you’re on my side right, Kasa? You and me, we could take them all on!” said Obito as he wrapped an arm around her shoulders protectively and pointed to the two in challenge to show that she’s not a threat. She fell into an abrupt fit of laughter as she held her sides and shook with mirth.

“Idiot,” muttered Ebisu as he pushed the sunglasses up the bridge of his nose, suspicion still lingered, but he would give Obito the benefit of the doubt.

 “You might want to get your ass to the office and clear your current status soon,” commented Genma wryly and decided to change the topic. “From what I heard, the Uchiha clan is causing grief for Kakashi and the rest of your team.”

“Huh? Why?” asked Obito in genuine confusion.

“Don’t know,” shrugged Genma. He likely knew, but with an unknown with them, he was unwilling to speak. Times like these, Obito hated the wartime rules. “Just saying, you might want to get it done soon. I heard they’re going to drag Kakashi to some council hearing sometime this week or something.”

“What!” snapped Obito in incredulity. “What for?”

Kushina placed a hand on his shoulder to remind me not to press further out in the open. “Why don’t we go settle things at the office and then go ask Kakashi himself?”

With reluctance, he backed down. “Fine.”

“We need to settle the matter concerning Kasa while we’re there as well,” continued Kushina as she turned to the girl fondly.  

Ebisu took this chance to openly focus his attention on the girl. Obito was certain he studied the girl while they spoke earlier in the cover of his dark shades. After all, the main reason why the guy wore shades at all was to hide his wandering eyes. He may seem all prim and proper, but Obito’s seen his choice in reading material before.  The straight-laced chunin had rather raunchy taste in porn.

“If you don’t mind me asking Uzumaki-san, who is this little girl?” asked Ebisu as he pushed his spectacles back up the bridge of his nose.

“Family of mines,” chirped Kushina as she planted a fond hand on Kasa’s head. “She’ll be living with me once we get the paperwork done.”

A startled expression crossed her face, further cementing her innocent image for them to let her through.

“Come on, let’s get a move on. We’ve wasted enough time here,” prompted Tsume impatiently, annoyed that they needed to go through with the wartime procedures before they could proceed into their own village.

“Yeah, we should get this stuff done ASAP! I’ll catch up with you guys later, maybe,” said Obito with an uplifting skip in his step and held out his hand to Kasa. “Come on Kasa, I’ll give you a tour of the village and introduce you to everyone when we’re done!”

“Don’t go traumatizing the poor girl, Obito,” drawled Genma.

Kasa gave another giggle before grabbing onto his hand.

“Whatever man!” said Obito as they moved on.

* * *

Tobi listened quietly in the back of his younger self’s mind. The lack of sight during the trek back made it hard to judge where they were and how long it took to get back, but at least he had the sound of chattering to keep him occupied. It was strange hearing his own voice with such a youthful inflection, even stranger with those that he once called friends and allies. Ironically, the only one that didn’t share that strangeness was the the odd girl they picked up.

Not that she said much about anything since they’ve entered the village. She seemed content with just listening to Obito ramble off about his teammates, friends and goals for the future. It could be nerves or the fact that she was in an unfamiliar place with hundreds, if not thousands of people she’s never seen before.

Beyond hearing, he could sense nothing else outside of the body, but that was all he needed. The shifting sounds in close proximity told him that the girl was clinging onto Obito to the point that she stumbled and tripped over her own feet several times. She made no sounds of distress, but she couldn’t be as easy with how close she clung onto Obito.

“Heya, Hokage-sama! How’s it going?” greeted Obito in his usual cheerful manner. He voice sounded clear and undisturbed by the busy noise from the outside. They must’ve reached the hokage’s office.  

“Obito Uchiha,” mused the old man. “I didn’t expect to speak with you again. Your team was quite downtrodden when they returned with news of your death.”

Tobi resisted the urge to snort, the man doesn’t waste any time in getting into the heart of the matter. Not that there was time to be wasted with a war going on. He would likely send Obito back onto the field once he’s recovered. The Third Shinobi War took quite a number of their forces, even injured, unless permanently debilitated, were deployed.

 “Yeah, that sucks. They’re not taking it too badly are they?” said Obito sheepishly as if death was not a big deal.

“Depends what your definition of badly means,” humored the old man.

“That bad huh? Well, if you can reinstate me as a ninja that’d be great. I’ll go and tell them the good news about me being alive,” murmured Obito, a grimace clear in his voice as he soaked in the information.

Tobi wondered how he got as far as he did as his younger self with how openly he wore his heart on his sleeve. Naivety was dangerous for shinobi, if anything it was their worst enemy. He knew that first hand, in trying to create a perfect world where no one ever suffered, he destroyed it both metaphorically and physically.

He tuned out the second recount of Obito’s close brush with death and even parts of the hokage’s not so subtle interrogation against the Uzumaki girl. While she didn’t carry the actual name, she was in every sense still an Uzumaki.

“Kushina, I know why you brought this child here, but you are aware of the current laws,” said the aged man, his voice rasp from the years of smoking.

“Yes, I’m aware we are in a state of war,” said Kushina with a grimace in her voice. “But I will take full responsibility of Kasa.”

“I trust you Kushina. However, I cannot bend the law on your words alone. Unless you can find out what sort of information is on those seals, we cannot risk having someone, even a child, wandering in the village with information we know nothing about. It would take too long to train her how to activate such seals.”

“It’s an information seal, there are no coercion commands drawn into it. Kasa isn’t a sleeper agent,” argued Kushina.

“Be as that may, unless I have solid proof, I cannot protect her from the council if they ask for her ejection from the village,” said the man firmly. “I know you want to protect what’s left of your kin Kushina and I don’t want to send any child away during times of war.”

“Are you kidding me Hokage-sama!” snapped Obito in protest. “Kasa’s four and a civilian! She doesn’t have an ounce of formal training yet or anyone to turn to, if you kick her out of the village, she will die!”

Tobi doubted the soft-hearted old man would ever do so to any child. He allowed Kabuto to stay even though he was a war-orphan with an undetermined background. No doubt he was just testing her, trying to see what she was like and being an Uzumaki, she didn’t disappoint.

“I-I could tell you what information is in the seals,” stuttered out the girl. She was terrified, but determined to stay.

Tobi couldn’t see what happened next, but judging by the line of questioning and the frantic screams that followed, the girl tried to activate the seals on her arms and dropped like a deadweight. If he could, Tobi would shake his head at the girl’s recklessness, but he supposed that was just part of the Uzumaki charm.

* * *

After the nerve-wrecking meeting with the hokage, Kasa overexerted herself with the seals on her arms and ended up collapsing with a seizure and a severe nosebleed. The aged leader managed to pull her out of her convulsions and promptly sent her and Obito the hospital for a thorough checkup. The girl, in her frantic state, spewed whatever she saw through the seals when she was under, but the hokage took pity on her and eased her worries of expulsion and gave an open invitation for her to enter the village.

The hospital trip, while necessary, was a tedious pit stop they needed to make in order to make sure Kasa didn’t do any lasting damage to herself with the stunt back in the office. Compared to his own treatment, hers didn’t take nearly half as long. Despite his various fractures, broken bones and the nurse threatening him an overnight stay, Obito somehow managed to charm his way out. With his teammates still grieving for his death, he didn’t want to extend it any longer than necessary.

“Come on!” urged Obito as they left the hospital. “I want to go find Minato sensei and the others. Can you image the look on their faces when they see me?”

 “Really Obito?” Kushina sighed with a roll of her eyes. “You died in front of their eyes and the first thing you want to do is show yourself like nothing happened?”

Obito scratched the back of his head sheepishly, feeling guilty of his thoughtlessness. “…I guess I wasn’t thinking.”

“Exactly!” Kushina propped a hand on her hip in a disappointed manner. “You should be ashamed of yourself.”

“Sorry, I—” He ducked his head down and started apologizing, but was promptly cut off.

“You should totally prank them instead!” cackled Kushina with glee. “Let’s make them crap their pants!”

Obito paused for a moment to let her words sink in before the widest grin crossed his face. “I knew I liked you for a reason Kushina-san!”

“Of course!” She raised her nose in the air with pride. “How could you ever doubt my awesomeness? Life is not worth living without good pranks!”

“How foolish of me!” declared Obito, decidedly taking a leaf out Gai’s book for enthusiasm. “Please teach me more Kushina-sama!”

“That’s what I like to see!” nodded Kushina. “Now listen closely, this is what we’re going to do…”

Even though he and Kushina sounded giddy throughout the planning process, Obito quickly noticed that the little auburn-haired girl grew quiet and lost in thought. He and Kushina traded a glance and decided to draw the girl out with whatever silly actions they could make, but she didn’t seem to notice until…

“I’m not worthy!” shouted Obito as he comically praised and bow to Kushina with his arms raised up and down. When the girl’s eyes focused to attention again, Kushina decided to step in to distract her.

“Kasa-chan, you’re going to help us!” declared the woman with full confidence and gave the girl no chance in backing out.

“Huh?” squeaked out the girl before they hauled her off her feet and dragged her to the training grounds.

The easiest one to find was likely Kakashi, he was always in one training ground or another. Aside from the hospital, Obito knew little other places that his crush would go to since most of her time was spent in the hospital with patients. As for their sensei Minato… He was quite sure Kushina would know where her boyfriend is, but he rather prank his stick in the mud teammate instead.

Yet, when he found the silver-haired jounin, all glee slipped from his thoughts. His stoic teammate stood in front of the memorial in silent grieving. He never seen the other cry and likely he would never see him cry, but here he grieved, for him. The thought was mind boggling. Obito knew they didn’t part with the best of terms, but he didn’t think it would affect the other so much.

“Man, oh man,” murmured Obito quietly as he watched from his hiding spot. “You’re killing me Kakashi.”

“Don’t worry, after we’re done, he won’t stay like that,” grinned Kushina in turn.

“…Can I not do this?” asked Kasa quietly. “That’s just mean.”

The sullen look returned to the girl’s face and Obito found himself guilty for putting the girl through this. She suffered real losses, but at the same time she was still young enough pull her out of that grief unlike the rest of them.

“You so totally got to do this!” whispered Obito, trying to make the situation sound more fun an enticing than it really is. “It’ll make my entrance all the more awesome. Pretty please Kasa?”

She gnawed at her lower lip and Obito felt a pang of guilt run through him.

“Kasa-chan, if you feel uncomfortable about this, you don’t have to,” said Kushina softly, the girl didn’t seem to believe her words. “But this prank will help Kakashi more so than hurt him.”

“…What do you mean?” she asked in confusion, there was still a chance that this could be salvaged.

“You don’t know Kakashi, he is a stoic bastard,” explained Obito. “He may look cool and all, but knowing what I know about him now, the bastard is probably blaming himself.” 

The girl frown with concentration, still not understanding what he was trying to say.

“He is totally ignoring my sacrifice to save his sorry ass! He should be living, not guilt tripping himself into misery!” grumbled Obito with a sigh as he tried to make the girl understand. “Kakashi could be bastard when it comes to his own emotions, always bottling it up and being an ass to everyone because of it.”

“Oh…” murmured Kasa thoughtfully as it finally clicked in her mind. At the look of Kushina’s sly grin he realized he made himself look like he cared more about his stoic teammate than he should.

“That’s why I need you to help me on this okay? We need to fix him,” said Obito before he made a show to cross his arms indignantly. “That and if I showed myself this early, he’s just going to get emotionally constipated and totally ruin my dramatic return.”

Kushina didn’t buy the act for a second, but she said nothing as she continued to watch with that knowing grin on her face.

“Oh, try to get my goggles back if you can,” he added as a last ditch attempt to get the woman to stop smiling, but she shook her head in amusement instead.

Kasa seemed hesitant at first, but eventually she screwed up her courage and walked up to Kakashi. From their distance, Obito could see that the girl was still nervous and uncertain on how to initial conversation with the silver-haired jounin, but much to their luck. Kakashi started first.

“What?” said Kakashi, the quietness of his voice made it near impossible to hear everything he said, but with some straining, Obito could still catch bits and pieces of what was said between the two.

“You… sad,” mumbled Kasa.

“…So?” replied Kakashi.

“You know…sad... if…” Kasa’s voice was too soft, he couldn’t catch most of what she was saying, but at the stiffening of his teammate, she must’ve said something he didn’t like.

_Kakashi’s not the type to attack little girls, right?_ Obito thought nervously.

“Is that what they told you when you lost someone you care about? You do know those words won’t change a thing. They’re still gone,” said Kakashi bitterly, this time his voice a tad bit clearer and easier to hear.

Obito grimaced at his choice of words and glanced over to the smaller girl. He thought she would cry at being told off so harshly, but to his surprise he found an odd look of determination on her face instead.

“No,” said the girl firmly. “Your friend told me.”

“Friend?” A frown crossed Kakashi’s face as suspicion set in.

This wasn’t looking good.

“Yep!” chirped the girl with her hands behind my back in a cute and childish manner and leaned sideways to look up at him. “He said he’s angry at you for being a bastard and wasting his sacrifice and he wants his goggles back.”

“Pft,” snorted both Obito and Kushina as they tried to hide their laugh. Neither of them expected her to parrot Obito’s words so well.

Kakashi stood stunned for a moment, but quickly composed himself. Unlike Obito and Kushina, he did not look amused.

“Who told you to tell me this?” demanded Kakashi with a darken voice and the girl took a defensive step back in fear.

“Not if you’re going to be like that,” said the girl in an attempt to sound brave, but cowered away when the older teen stepped closer.

“Tell me who told you to tell me this,” Kakashi all but growled, cold anger laced his words.

“Eep!” shouted Kasa as she turned to flee, but the other caught her with ease.

“Geez,” sighed Obito as he pulled himself out of his hiding spot. “He’s taking this too far.”

“I’ll ask one last time. Who told you to do this?” growled Kakashi as he hauled the girl to eye level. A weak wave of killing intent poured out from him as he stared the girl down. “Tell me.”

Unable to handle the panice, Kasa flailed and screamed for help. “Obito help! He’s going to kill me!”

“Obito?” repeated Kakashi in a whisper, surprised by the name.

The Uchiha body-flickered and sped to his teammate’s right side and swung his fist. His sudden appearance startled the shocked Kakashi and he was forced to drop Kasa out of self-preservation and blocked his blow. With a grip of his wrist, his teammate grabbed his arm and chucked him over his shoulder and pinned him to the ground. Obito let out a pained breath and grimaced at the pain.

“Oww… what the hell Kakashi!” whined Obito as he tried to brush it off. “This was supposed to be my badass return!”

“…O…Obito?” croaked out Kakashi weakly, but he shook his head with vehemence, his kunai pressed firmly against the Uchiha’s throat. “You’re not him! Who are you? What the hell are you doing here?”

“Hey, hey! Watch where you’re pointing that! I just got out of the hospital! I don’t want to go back there again!” protested Obito as he tried to inch away, but Kakashi wasn’t letting up.

“Who are you?” repeated Kakashi with a growl before he glanced up to Kasa who scrambled back the moment she touched the ground. “Who are either of you? Did the Uchiha send you to do this?”

“Uchiha? Why would they do that?” frowned Obito, but Kakashi kept his eye on the girl instead of him “Hey, I’m talking to you, bastard!”

Obito shifted a leg out from under Kakashi and kicked him off. The kunai didn’t manage to hit any of his arteries, but it did manage to nick the side of his face. A pained hiss escaped his lips as he raised his sleeve to press against the cut.

“Why is it always the face? Man, that stings,” complained Obito.

Kakashi reoriented himself in the air and forced himself to land in a fighting stance. “Your genjutsu skills are good to be able to maintain the illusion even after taking damage. Show me your true face.”

“This is my true face dipshit!” shouted Obito in agitation. “For a prodigy you’re freaking stupid if you haven’t notice that I’m not dead!”

“I don’t believe you,” glared Kakashi.

“For the love of—” Obito threw his hands up in the air. “You know what? Screw this! If you want a fight bastard, you got one! Jounin or no jounin! I’m going to kick your ass! Kasa-chan, take cover. I’m going to teach this bastard a lesson!”

The girl scurried away at his command, Kakashi spared a brief glance at the corner of his eye, but this time he kept his attention on Obito.

“As if you’ll get the chance,” growled out Kakashi as he charged forward.

“Bring it on!” roared Obito as he too pulled out his own kunai and charged. 

Kunais clashes, punches were thrown and the two of them fought for ten minutes straight, only to find themselves in a standstill.

“Shit,” wheezed Obito as he eyed the other. It was odd that he managed a standstill at all in his condition was he holding back? Or did he sustain more injuries from the mission and he didn’t know? “Had enough yet?”

“You?” ragged out Kakashi as he was out of breath as well. His hand tightened over his kunai.

“Ha!” coughed Obito. “I’m just getting started! But uh…” He rested his free hand on his knee as he caught his breath. “If you want to give up, I’m totally cool with that! You know, uh… because I’m generous like that!”

Kakashi stood still, his ragged breath slowly evened out as he studied Obito. His brows furrowed as if trying to make sense of something.

“You can’t continue, can you?” murmured Kakashi.

“What?” snapped Obito as he stood up with indignation. How dare the bastard insinuate that he was better than him! “You want to go again? Come on! I can do this all day!”

The silver-haired teen stared at him for a moment longer before he sighed and pocketed his kunai. “You’re an idiot, Obito.”

 “You want to say that to my face again bastard? I could—Hey wait, you said my name!” Obito switched in mid-sentence, completely disregarding whatever he was going to say.

“Yes,” confirmed Kakashi as he brushed off the mild layer of dust on him, gathered from the fight.

“About time bastard!” A bright grin broke out on Obito’s face as he pocketed his kunai. “What changed your mind?”

“Only an idiot like you would bluff an enemy while exhausted and obviously defeated,” said Kakashi in a deadpan.

Obito huffed. “I could’ve so continued the fight!”

Kakashi gave a snort as he turned his attention to the trees. “Sensei, Kushina-san, you guys can stop hiding.”

Obito jumped in surprise, startled that there was another spectator aside from Kushina and Kasa.  

“Ah, he caught us!” said Kushina unabashed as she jumped out of hiding.

“Minato sensei! When the hell did you get here?” shouted Obito. “I was totally going to go surprise you next! No fair!”

“It’s not very nice of you to tell us you’re alive with a prank,” chided Minato warmly.

“Sensei, you know he was alive?” asked Kakashi with mild annoyance.  

“Not a clue,” chirped their blond sensei. “I didn’t find out until a couple of minutes ago, myself.”

“Kushina-san,” whined Obito, rubbing his bruised and bandaged arms. “You could’ve cut in at least. Kakashi is a beast when it comes to taijutsu. My arms are killing me!”

“I would’ve cut in earlier to explain everything, but no Minato had to stop me.” Kushina huffed and turned a glare at Minato.

“If I let you cut in, Kakashi would’ve been even more furious that you two decided to play such a mean prank on him,” reasoned Minato with a deceptively friendly smile. “Then it would be much harder to drag both of them to see Rin. I’m quite sure she’ll be happy to know both of you avoided her for an entire week.”

Obito’s jaw dropped in horror while Kakashi’s body tensed up at the mention of their teammate.

"Minato sensei! I wasn’t avoiding her! I was nearly dead! It took me a week to get back!” protested Obito.

“Hmm,” hummed Minato thoughtfully. “But the first person you came to see after coming back wasn’t her or me, but Kakashi. I wonder what would she think?”

“Argh!” screamed Obito and grabbed his hair as he realized his error. “I’m so stupid! I should’ve gone to see her first! She’s going to kill me! Kakashi this is all your fault!”

“My fault?” said Kakashi in disbelief. “You’re the one that wanted to prank me when I thought you were still dead!”

“You’re the one that’s emotionally constipated! And what’s this about Minato sensei saying you’ve been avoiding her for a week? What the hell man?” accused Obito.

“You’re one to talk, Mr. I’ve come back from the dead!” snapped Kakashi.

They bickering became more and more heated with each line that they neither of them notice that Rin were present and watching from the shadows. It wasn’t until she spoke that either of them realized the gravity of their situation.

“O…bi…to… Ka…ka…shi…” grounded out Rin slowly.

“Rin!” the two shouted in horror before she paralyzed them both and knocked them senseless.

There was nothing like a woman’s wrath as Obito and Kakashi learned in the aftermath as she bandaged the two of them.

“No message, no letter, no nothing! You were alive and you didn’t even think to drop a word back to us?” snapped Rin as she re-bandaged Obito’s injuries.

“There were no messenger birds at the outpost free for something like that!” defended Obito. He yelped when Rin tightened the bandages over his bruises. “Ow, ow, ow! Sorry! Sorry!”

“Next time you do that to us again, I will kill you myself!” threatened Rin, tears welded at her eyes.

"Yes, ma’am!” squeaked Obito guiltily.

“Defeats the purpose of encouraging him to survive,” murmured Kakashi offhandedly.

“Don’t you dare start, Kakashi! I haven’t gotten to you yet!” growled the girl. “You’ve been avoiding me since we got back to the village. I didn’t even know you had trouble with your chakra until Minato sensei told me! I thought we were teammates! Why would you keep something like that from me?”

Obito glanced at Kakashi curiously, that was new. “You’re having trouble with your chakra?”

"It’s nothing,” murmured the silver-haired teen as he turned away.

"That’s not nothing!” retorted Obito. “How are you going to continue to go on missions if you can’t even defend yourself?”

Kakashi remained silent. Obito wanted to press on further with such a serious matter, but…

_Growl…_

The sound of a growling stomach drew their attention to the small girl and her face flushed red in embarrassment.

“Kasa-chan are you hungry?” asked Kushina with amusement.

“…I can wait,” mumbled the girl quietly as she snuck a glance up at Kakashi. “Until Kakashi admits he needs a hug, it might be dangerous to go eating with him… He might just try to hurt himself with the splinters on a chopstick.”

Obito grinned gleefully at her deviousness act of genius. Kakashi glared at her with vehemence, but she shot back with an innocent grin.

“Whoops, you didn’t want them to know that?” said Kasa innocently.

“Kakashi needs a hug?” said Obito slyly, obviously enjoying his teammate’s torment.

“No, I don’t need a hug!” snapped his silver-haired teammate as he turned to him with a glare.

“Aw!” gushed Obito teasingly. “You were being such a bastard because you just needed a hug?”

“Don’t you dare Obito!” warned Kakashi as he backed away from him.

                “I believe he does need a hug,” added Rin with a grin as she joined Obito’s efforts. “Should we give you a hug?”

“No, I don’t need a hug!” snapped Kakashi as he turned to Minato. “Sensei, tell them to back down.”

Minato hid a smile behind his hand. “No, I agree with them. I think you do need a hug.”

Kakashi’s eyes widened, surprised that even his trusted teacher betrayed him.

"Get him team!” shouted Kushina enthusiastically before the silver-haired teen turned tail and ran.

Obito and Rin chased after him dutifully, but laughed all the same as they piled onto the reluctant jounin.

“All right, I think Kakashi has enough hugs for today,” said Minato as he took pity on his stoic student, but only by a little. “You can give him more tomorrow if you want.”

Kakashi shot him a look of betrayal and grumbled under his breath.

“It’s been a taxing day for everyone and we should all go home and get some rest, but how about I treat you all to dinner before then? As a celebration for Obito’s return,” said Minato.

“Serious?” said Obito excitedly as he jumped to his feet. “All right! Let’s go for yakiniku!”

“Too heavy, pick something lighter,” noted Kakashi as he sat up from the ground.

“I thought this was to celebrate my return?” grumbled Obito.

“How come you guys get to pick?” retorted Rin. “I say we go for dango and anmitsu!”

Before another fight could break out, Kushina promptly cut in.

“Kids,” said the woman sternly. “If you guys can’t make up your mind, I get to choose.”

“But you always choose ramen!” huffed Obito.

“Is that a problem?” scoffed Kushina.

“Kushina-san, that’s not fair, we should be able to choose this time,” protested Rin.

“It’s not like you don’t have other opportunities to attack Minato sensei’s wallet anyway,” muttered Kakashi as he stood up and dusted himself off.

“Oh, ho, is this a challenge I here?” said Kushina boldly as she stood in a battle stance.

“What if it is?” braved Obito.

“Three on one! I like the odds!” cackled the red-haired woman. “Bring it little minions! Bring it on!”

And so… Team 7 found themselves in the fight for their dinner as they faced off Konoha’s Red Hot Habanero… only to be beaten senseless and left in a pile of twitching limbs on the training field.

“Come along Kasa-chan,” chirped Kushina as she rolled her shoulder and arm in triumph. They all knew they would never win against Kushina when it came to choosing dinner locations, but it was a routine they’ve grown used to and with some fondness. “We’re going for ramen.”

“Coming!” chirped the girl as she tailed after her. Minato said nothing as he followed in amusement to give the three a moment alone.

This wasn’t how he envisioned his return to Konoha, but he wasn’t complaining. He was home and with the people he care about. That was all that mattered.

“…Hey Obito?” grunted Kakashi from the pile.

“Yeah?” groaned Obito as he turned to his teammate.

“…Welcome back,” muttered the other.

Surprised cross his face briefly before followed by a wide grin.

“Good to be back,” said Obito.

**Author's Note:**

> This chapter is pretty much just Obito’s point of view of an earlier chapter in Kasa’s story. The first couple of chapters here would pretty much just be Obito’s POV during Kasa’s story, at least until they reach Konoha and the story would branch out a bit more and focus less on Kasa. 
> 
> A couple of you asked if this is an AU to Kasa’s story, the answer is no. It’s the same story, just following Obito instead. Hence, why I said “parallel to” and not alternate universe. If you haven’t read Kasa’s story, it’s okay, I’m writing this to be a standalone. So, if you don’t want to read Kasa’s story, you don’t have to.


End file.
